Discord of Measurements in Assessing Depression Among African Americans With Cancer Diagnoses.

Discord of Measurements in Assessing Depression among African Americans with Cancer Diagnoses.

Int J Cult Ment Health. 2013 Jan 1; 6(1): 58-71
Zhang AY, Gary F

This study examined the level of agreement among the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), and Observers’ Rating on assessing depression of African American adults with cancer.75 breast and prostate cancer patients (57 African Americans and 18Whites) were interviewed and administered the depression measures. Nonparametric tests were performed to examine the level of measurement agreement by group and the symptom items of CES-D, HAM-D and BDI-II to which African American patients responded differently across measures.The four measures showed agreement on approximately 75% of the cases in both racial groups. However, the difference between measures in identifying depressive cases is marked. The item analysis indicated that most measurement disagreements about African American patients occurred on two items: self-report of depression and sleeping disturbance.Measurement discord may be explained by African American’s reporting behavior that varies from a self-reported measure to an interviewer-administrated measure of depression. African American patients showed a reluctance to use the word “depression” and a tendency to report sleep disturbance. The findings suggest that accurately assessing depression in these patients requires a consideration of their culturally shaped life experiences. HubMed – depression

Undiagnosed Bipolar Disorders in Patients with Major Depressive Episode: Iran’s part of a Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study.

Iran J Psychiatry. 2013 Mar; 8(1): 1-6
Abhari SA, Sadeghi M, Ardestani SM, Semnani Y, Mirsepassi G, Sadr SS, Kamaloo A, Ahadi M, Pourmirza B, Mir E

Bipolar spectrum disorders may often go undiagnosed or unrecognized. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of bipolar disorder symptoms in Iranian patients with a major depressive episode.313 patients with a current DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th ed. Text rev.) diagnosed with a major depressive episode entered this cross-sectional study. Thirty two items revised Hypomania/ mania Symptoms Checklist (HCL-32) was used to determine the frequency of bipolar episodes.Considerable proportion of patients (53.9%) previously diagnosed as major depressive disorder fulfilled the criteria for bipolar disorder by Bipolarity Specifier. The Bipolarity Specifier additionally identified significant association for manic / hypomanic states during antidepressants therapy (p<0.0003) and current mixed mood symptoms (p<0.0001).Bipolar symptoms meeting the criteria for bipolar disorders in depressed patients who have not been previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder are frequent. Current DSM criteria may not be sufficient to diagnose more subtle or atypical forms of bipolar disorders. HubMed – depression

Differences between bipolar and unipolar depression on Rorschach testing.

Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2013; 9: 619-27
Kimura H, Osaki A, Kawashima R, Inoue T, Nakagawa S, Suzuki K, Asakura S, Tanaka T, Kitaichi Y, Masui T, Kitagawa N, Kako Y, Abekawa T, Kusumi I, Yamanaka H, Denda K, Koyama T

The bipolar-unipolar distinction in patients with a major depressive episode is the most important issue related to the diagnosis and treatment of mood disorders, but remains unresolved. This study was undertaken to compare bipolar and unipolar depression on Rorschach testing using the Comprehensive System with reference to healthy Japanese controls.Patients with bipolar or unipolar depression who had undergone the Rorschach test for routine clinical purposes were followed up naturalistically for a long period. Based on diagnostic confirmation after long-term follow-up, scores on this test for patients with bipolar and unipolar depression were compared with those published elsewhere for healthy Japanese controls.The bipolar depression group showed significantly higher scores or positive findings in five variables of the Rorschach test, ie, WSum6, DR2 > 0, (CF + C) > FC + 2, PureC > 1, and Populars > 7, as assessed using the Comprehensive System, than did the unipolar depression group and healthy controls. These scores did not differ between the unipolar depression and control groups.The results of this study show thought disorder or cognitive slippage and marked laxness in modulating emotion in bipolar depression, indicating the psychopathological characteristics of bipolar disorder. HubMed – depression

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